


Glitters is Gold

by HolaCarmilla (LilyHoncho)



Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Eventual Smut, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-27
Updated: 2015-11-30
Packaged: 2018-05-03 14:18:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5294399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilyHoncho/pseuds/HolaCarmilla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Musician/Producer AU no one wants.  </p>
<p>A young, aspiring singer (Laura) meets Carmilla, a mysterious and locally known music producer. They form a work connection when Carmilla takes special interest in Laura's unmistakable appeal. The boundaries of their professional relationship are tested as time progresses, careers are built and some are broken. What will happen when two very different girls are asked to put aside their differences for the sake of the music they came together to create? </p>
<p>Updated regularly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. My Morning is Summer

 

     The air on this particular morning is cold. It slips in from the window Carmilla’s left open overnight and causes prickles of goosebumps to rise against the bits of her skin that her comforter doesn’t cover. It’s a relatively soft fabric, and as such, it shifts to accommodate her shape when she turns onto her back, eyelids heavy with sleep but begrudgingly fluttering open.

Almost as if on reflex, her hand reaches over to the bedside table to check the time. The smartphone her mother handed down to her months ago reads 11 am, and she trusts it enough to commit the time to memory and set the phone back down with a thud.

She lets her eyes fall closed for a moment more as she thinks ahead to what her day will entail. Last night had been a long night, all a bit of a blur, but she vaguely remembers golden brown hair and a bright eyed girl who was singing onstage. It must have been an open mic night, she recalls, and the girl who’d caught her eye long enough to make her put her phone away had no apparent entourage with her. In fact, she’d been entirely alone. It had definitely piqued a preying Carmilla’s interest. The girl being alone worked out perfectly, seeing as it gave Carmilla a good enough excuse to abandon the boring work related gathering she’d been tied down to all night.

She’d walked over with the intention of flirting her way into the girl’s pants, but small talk with the pretty stranger led to her ordering the girl a drink, over which she found out her name was Laura, and they discussed the possibility of working together once Carmilla outed herself as none other than the Karnstein half of Karnstein & Morgan, a well enough known recording company. She remembers the way the girl’s eyes had widened when she recognized her.

The brief thought of how they’d discussed Laura’s first scheduled studio visit flashes by, and she wants to scold her stomach for the soft flip it does. No sleeping in now, she’s definitely pretty awake. Today’s the day she gets to see that giddy girl once again. Sure, it’s meant to be a formal interaction, all strictly business, but Carmilla always finds a way to get around her mother’s rules, not that she’s got anything particularly sinister in her plans for today. Hell, she might actually work, if Laura feels so inclined.  

With a sigh, Carmilla sits up fully, rubbing sleep from her eyes before stretching out in a way that she’s been told is not unlike a feline in many ways. It’s no doubt something she’s heard from a few overnight guests, one of the few things she’s actually committed to memory from any of them. Maybe it’s her spirit animal, who knows. She certainly mirrors the common house cat’s way of independence and vague indifference. She’s also a little bit of an asshole when provoked. Not entirely un-catlike, even she’ll admit.

 

* * *

 

It’s a few hours later, after a lengthy phone call from her mother, that Carmilla has some finer details on certain aspects of her working partnership with Laura. According to the head woman herself, she and the tiny ball of undiscovered talent have six weeks to get some demos going, after which her Mother will get back in touch to put them in the right direction - which could potentially be a decent record deal for Laura, if she manages to impress Carmilla’s Mother’s business connections after all. There were a few snide comments issued by Mrs. Morgan, but most of which went in one ear and out the other when Carmilla got back to thinking about Laura. She was a cute girl, who could blame Carmilla, really? She wondered what she’d be like in the studio later today. It would certainly be a different environment from the one they’d first spoken in.

After she’d had a good shower and allowed herself no more than just half an hour to get dressed and ready, Carmilla tapped out a short text to Laura, who’s number she’d obtained on a strictly work related basis, just to make sure they were still on for their last minute scheduled studio time.

 

**Carmilla:** _‘noon today, you’ll be there?’_

**Laura:** _‘of course!! can’t wait. see u then :)'_

 

Oh, this girl was too much. So perky and happy - gosh if it wasn’t everything Carmilla swore herself against. She’d have her work cut out for her, that much was for sure. It was usually fun to see if these musician types turned out to have the grit it took to actually keep at this overly romanticized career. It would be fun to test the cutie, to see if she really wanted this as much as everyone else in her place had always seemed to at first. Carmilla had become a bit blase to it all herself, if she were honest. The music industry had lost it's appeal. 

 

* * *

 

True to her word, Laura is already there when Carmilla shows up at 12:15, casually late with the time it takes her to climb the stairs up to their given recording space. The darker haired girl perks a brow at the sight of a beaming Laura when she finally makes it through the door, the shorter girl standing still and staring straight back at her, a bright pink box held tight in her hands.

Carmilla closes the door to the studio with the heel of her boot, questioning with a brief jut of her chin towards the aforementioned box. “What you got there, cutie?” she notes the way it makes Laura stiffen.

“Where can I…?” Laura begins to ask, looking around stiffly for a place to set down the large pink box of confections she’s brought along as a celebratory measure - this was her first real studio gig, after all.

“Oh, um, just -” Carmilla struts towards the girl just a little bit too quickly. “Just set ‘em here.” She says, taking one side of the box to guide it down to an accompanying fold out table. “Care to tell me what they are now?” she asks, beginning to open the box without giving much pause for an answer.

“Just cupcakes. I couldn’t get to sleep last night, so I texted my friend Laf and they told Perry and-”

“Cupcakes?” Carmilla muses, the smirk that rises on her lips just a tad patronizing. “That’s cute. Who are these people and what have they got to do with your darling little pink cupcakes?”

“Uh, well,” Laura’s lips perk in an awkward expression as she continues her train of thought. “Perry is my bestfriend’s girlfr- best friend? I’m not actually sure what they-”

“You’re losing me, cutie.”

“Anyways, she came over and we baked these. I thought I’d bring them here.”

“Ah. It’s cute,” Deft, black-painted fingers reach to pluck the biggest, pinkest cupcake from the box. “your enthusiasm. I just hope these don’t taste as frilly and sweet as they look.”

“They’re vanilla. Strawberry cream frosting.”

“Vanilla? That’s very predictable.” Carmilla grins playfully, peeling the teeny cake from it’s wrapper and bringing it to her mouth for a generous but unnecessarily slow bite.

“Oh, my bad. I forgot, you’re totally a devil’s food, death by chocolate kind of girl.” Laura quips back with her own teasing smirk, watching a little too intently as Carmilla’s tongue pokes out to clear her lips of any stray frosting.

“She matches my sarcasm. I think she and I will get along just fine.” Carmilla muses to herself, swiping her index finger across the top of her cupcake to steal some frosting for a taste. “No, these are actually quite nice. Congrats, _cupcake_. You haven’t disappointed me yet.”

Laura stands there for a moment, a little taken aback by the nature of the half-compliment. It’s a few seconds later that the new nickname registers itself upon her ears.

“Did you just call me-” Laura begins to question, though the other swiftly interrupts before she can pose her question.

“Now,” Carmilla finishes off the rest of her cupcake in one bite, patting her hands clean. “let’s get to work.”

  



	2. I Love Rock n' Roll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They don’t actually get into the recording booth, they spend too much time talking about how they're gonna go about this and yeah they kind of get sidetracked in talking about other stuff like each other and what each of them had for breakfast and how they're feeling today and who their favorite singers and songwriters are. Very productive day in the studio otherwise.

     “Did you have a hard time finding this place?” Carmilla asks, idle conversation as she shrugs off her jacket and throws it over the back of a nearby rolling chair.

“No, yeah. It was fine. My dad just looked it up on Google Maps, it was pretty smooth sailing from there.”

It’s that admission that causes Carmilla’s head to lift in Laura’s direction. “You had your dad drive you?”

“Well, I don’t drive, so…”

“Noted.” Carmilla comments, a slight furrow in her brow as she turns back to the chair she was just about to pull out for herself. “Oh, um-” as a last-ditch effort, she catches a second chair with her heel to pull it back. “Have a seat,”

“Thanks.”

A few seconds pass in silence as Laura slips into the chair beside her. Carmilla feels a bit uneasy, and it’s strange for her. She won’t admit that it’s due to this girl’s company. “Did you sleep well?” she asks, hands awkwardly stuffed between leather-clad thighs.

“I slept fine.” Laura nods. “You?”

Oh, God. Laura’s got to give her more to work with. _‘Fine, you?_ ’ what was this, elevator small talk? She forces her features to fall expressionless. “A bat slipped into my room with his bat-posse and tried to recruit me into his vampire cult.” she shrugs, turning towards the soundboard, though her hands remain un-moving. _Nice one, Karnstein._ A little sarcasm never hurt anyone.

“Wait, seriously?” Laura asks, eyes wide as she leans toward her, voice hushed, as if there were anyone else in the room to hear her. “That’s insane.”

“I was-” Carmilla deadpans, “I was kidding.” There’s a distinct lack of smirk on her lips, because come on, _seriously?_  What is this girl, five? 

“Oh.” the small girl blushes, sitting back. “Right. I knew that.”

Carmilla shakes her head in disbelief before fully focusing herself on checking the board she's seated before. Her fingers work quick, making sure all is in place for Laura to eventually head into the booth. It occurs to her then that besides scheduling studio time, they haven’t actually discussed if Laura has anything to record.

“So, tell me Laura…” she begins, finding it endearing how Laura perks up at her name, almost like a puppy. “Have you got any original works you’d like to hash out today?”

Laura tenses for a moment, but Carmilla doesn’t notice. “Um-”

“I’ll take that as a no.”

“I mean, I’ve written, but nothing - nothing good. Nothing I can record.”

“We can’t exactly send you in there to record a cover of Toxic, now can we, cupcake?” she teases, accompanied by a small smirk she forces away. “What do you propose we do with this time?”

Laura looks a little disappointed, and Carmilla isn’t exactly sure why. The girl’s quietness has her searching for something else to say.

“What, you didn’t actually expect to come up here and sing Britney Spears, did you?” Carmilla asks. 

Laura shakes her head.

“Okay, fine. Let’s start somewhere easy.” Carmilla sighs, lifting her hands from the soundboard to lean further back in her chair. “Do you have any influences?”

She almost regrets the question when she sees something light up within Laura’s eyes.

“I think for songwriting I’m the most influenced by people like Sia, or um, CocoRosie. I don’t know if I’ve got the whole writing thing down yet, but those are two acts I definitely aspire to be like.” Laura admits with a shrug, twisting slightly in the office chair Carmilla had pulled out especially for her.

“Haven’t heard of the second one, but Sia? I guess I could sorta see that.” Carmilla gives a single nod. “We’ll work on finding you a sound similar to hers. Catchy, but not washed up like most mainstream stuff in this day and age. Good to hear you’ve got _some_ taste. Can’t take another bubblegum-pop girlie in my booth.”

“Some would argue Sia is pop.”

“I wouldn’t. That’s like saying Joan Jett isn’t the queen of rock n’ roll.”

“I’m sorry, Carmilla, but I don’t think she is.” Laura giggles, to which Carmilla turns her seat to face her, a playfully shocked expression on her face.

“What was that, cupcake? Did you just insult my personal hero?”

“I’m not insulting her, I just think Stevie Nicks has a pretty good case for the whole queen of rock thing. I mean, Edge of Seventeen? You can’t talk about women in rock without that song coming up.”

“Oh, psh. That’s soft rock or something. It’s not real rock.” Carmilla teases, turning back to the soundboard to tinker with some dials, though only in preparation since they haven't actually even talked about starting anything yet. Her gaze flicks back over to Laura when she notices the girl’s sudden silence. The face she finds the other girl making causes her to sputter out a laugh. “That bunched up face is adorable, cutie.”

“Oh, stuff it, Carmilla!” Laura grins, one she tries to hide though her mouth is agape as she shoves at the darker haired girl’s arm.

“Them’s fighting words, little Laura.” Carmilla warns, her attention fully devoted to the girl seated beside her. “Big words coming from a girl whose idol is as tiny as she is.”

“Say what you will about her height, but she managed to achieve sex symbol status in her years of reign.” Laura shrugs, pleased with her own addition to the argument enough to sit back in her chair, crossing her arms against her chest.

“Sure, maybe in her heyday, but will her loyal admirer be able to step up to the plate and claim the title for herself?” Carmilla challenges back with a wide grin. She’s teasing, but it feels nice to be so casual with someone like this. “I’d choose you over Stevie any day. You’re a lot less witchy, way more universal. I think everyone would agree, you’re cute.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, Carmilla, even though you’re insulting one of my idols and insinuating I’d even want to be a sex symbol. I just wanna be a singer.” Laura laughs, eyes trained to her lap to keep from making eye contact that would definitely make her blush.

“Ah, whatever. I’m just teasing you.” she smiles. “You’re so uptight.”

“I am not!” Laura pipes up, though the bright grin across her cheeks doesn’t look as offended as her voice portrays. “I’m just… super professional, obviously. Which is funny, considering you’re supposed to be the professional one.”

Carmilla is still smiling until she looks down and catches the time flash across her phone, along with it a text that Laura is a bit too far away to read.

“Something wrong?” Laura asks, noticing when the other girl’s posture slackens.

“Nothing. We, um...” one of Carmilla’s hands finds it’s way behind her messy curls to rub against the back of her own neck. “Looks like we used up all of our time debating which lady rock star rocks the hardest. We’ll have to make up for it next time.”


	3. Eyes of the World

     After being sent back to the lobby and left to her own devices, Laura had resorted to calling her father for a ride home. Of course he had been a little curious as to why the appointment had ended within only an hour, but thankfully he didn’t pry. It wasn’t like Laura had an answer for him, anyways. She had just about as many questions as the woman working at the front, Betty as her name tag read,  who watched her curiously from behind her desk.  

 

“So, this Carmilla character…” Papa Hollis had begun after starting the car once Laura was finally in. “When do I get to meet her?”

“Dad, she’s a business associate, not a potential girlfriend. There will be no meeting involved, thanks.” Laura managed out past a scoff. It was times like these that she was glad she’d come out to her father. How awkward would it have been if she’d said that and he hadn’t known?

“Well now, I think it’s a pretty similar situation.” Laura rolled her eyes at that, but it went unnoticed. “If someone’s going to be spending a lot of time with my daughter, I have a right to meet them - just to make sure they’re worth my sweet girl’s time, yknow?” 

 

* * *

     

So, maybe it had been a little rude to kick Laura out without so much as an explanation besides  _‘looks like we ran out of time’_ , but in retrospect, kicking her out was the far kinder alternative, as opposed to letting her stay when Carmilla’s mother had announced her impending arrival. It wasn’t that she didn’t think the two should meet - though truthfully, she’d postpone it for as long as possible, but the more pressing issue was whether or not her mother’s booming presence would scare the young girl off. It wasn’t really Carmilla’s place to decide, but she figured it better to save the encounter for another day, preferably when she herself knew the girl a little better.

 

* * *

 

 

Sitting alone in her room now, eyes glued to her ceiling, Laura recollected all that had happened today. Things weren't off to an especially rough start with Carmilla, but still, it had been a strange day. They'd gotten no real work done besides breaking the ice, and while she had expected Carmilla to be a bit more professional at her place of work and all, she hadn't expected to be kicked out so quickly. Was that what it had been? Had she been kicked out? Did Carmilla even have reasonable grounds to end their meet-up so promptly, anyways? Laura felt entitled to know. 

She sat up with a huff, reaching for her phone which had lost itself beneath her covers. "Hah! Got'cha." 

 **[8:23pm] Laura:** _'hey! carmilla, can u give me a call when ur free?'_

Seconds after she hit send, Laura contemplated whether using text-speak was the reason Carmilla had been so informal with her, not that it was the real, pressing issue. Then again - maybe it was why she was kicked out? Her mind started to wander. Was there even an issue, or was she just obessing over things that held no real importance? Maybe appointments at Karnstein & Morgan are just really, really short, she wouldn't know - but perhaps she could ask. 

 **[8:25pm] Carmilla:** _'busy, can't call. what's up?'_

 **[8:25pm] Laura:** _'just wondering when our next appt is?'_

Should she stop abbreviating things? Was it making her look unprofessional? 

 **[8:25pm] Laura:** _'appointment*'_

 **[8:26pm] Carmilla:** _'I know what appt stands for.'_

 **[8:28pm] Carmilla:** _'u free tomorrow @ 2:30?'_

 **[8:28pm] Laura:** _'p.m.?'_

She isn't surprised by the lack of answer that follows. Either Carmilla thought the question was redundant since the studio technically closes at midnight, or her _'busy'_ turned into _'actually busy'._ Regardless, Laura set her phone down on her bedside table, falling back against her sheets with an exasperated sigh. Apparently professional relationships weren't immune to her habits of overthinking. _Whatever_ , she'd manage.  

 

* * *

 

 

It isn’t until they’re alone in the studio once again that Laura realizes she doesn’t really know what’s meant to happen here. Sure, she knows that things get recorded, songs crafted and albums made - but how does one even begin the process? She feels pretty unprepared, since all she’s brought today is herself and her voice, which she’d call mediocre at best. Her eyes catch Carmilla's and she loses her train of thought, but thankfully the darker-haired girl seems like she's about to say something.

“So, I take it you’ve never sat down and done some professional recording?”

“Gee, thanks. Not that I don’t love being belittled…” Not exactly what she'd expected Carmilla to say. 

“I only say that because usually, when you agree to meet someone in the studio, it’s kind of an unspoken that you’ll have some material.” Carmilla says nonchalantly, noting the offense she registers on Laura's face, which makes her lips pull to the side. "It's okay, as long as we get back on track and make up for it before our deadline," Laura wants to question when it became _their_ deadline, since it seems that it's only her own yet-to-be career on the line, but Carmilla continues speaking. "Would you - possibly, _ah_ , want to meet up sometime, off the clock so that we could figure this thing out without it putting you in a world of debt? Studio time's kinda costly." 

Ah, right. Laura forgot that every studio hour came with a price tag and was no doubt costing her, but was Carmilla really offering to help her out without any financial incentive? This almost made up for the fact that Carmilla kicked her out on Laura's time the previous meeting. It _had_ been Laura's time, she decided - monetarily, at least. 

"That doesn't sound like a... _terrible_ idea, I guess." Laura says with a noncommittal shrug, though in truth the question initially made her a little nervous. Carmilla was threatening enough in the previous two environments they'd stumbled upon each other in - what would a new location bring? Added stress, most likely. Hell, the things she'd be willing to do for her career... 

"Great. Then, if you ask me - it'd be best if we ended this session a bit early in favor of discussing things later. Sound good?" Carmilla asks, eagerly clapping open palms down against her leather-clad thighs as if to say ' _that's a wrap'_. "I mean, it's only your money going down the drain each time we meet here without a real set plan." 

"Yep, you are totally right. Thanks Carmilla." And that was that, Laura gave a tight smile and stood immediately. She surprised both herself and her studio-mate with how quickly she made for the door. If she'd turned around, she might have noticed the curious look on Carmilla's face upon her speedy departure. 

* * *

 


End file.
